Commenting Rules: Keep the conversation civil and on topic. If your comment does not add to the conversation, it will be removed. Debate intelligently. Insulting the author, /Film, or other commenters will result in comment removal and possible ban. If you want to point out a typo, correction, suggestion or criticism for /Film, please email us instead. Please use your name or nickname and not your business name (ie Discount Car Parts) as we might confuse and mark it as spam. If you would like to have your own Avatar show up with your comment, sign-up for a free Disqus account. Any Links will go into moderation before being approved. Anything we deem as spam will not be approved.

HBO’s Rome to be Resurrected As A Film?

Posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 by Devindra Hardawar

Fans of HBO’s historical epic series Rome may soon have a reason to give their DVDs a rest. It seems that creator Bruno Heller is interested in revisiting the series as a theatrical film. Heller, who is currently helming The Mentalist on CBS, told THR earlier today that he’d love to wrap up the storyline that was cut short due to the show’s cancellation.

Despite getting decent ratings and several awards, the show was cancelled in the middle of its second season of production. With some estimates putting the budget of the show’s first season at around $100 million, it’s not surprising that HBO couldn’t stomach a third season (honestly, I’m grateful we even got a second). Heller ended up squeezing several seasons worth of plot into the show’s second season. One storyline, involving a certain Jewish messiah, didn’t make it into the series at all and could easily be adapted to film.

TV-to-film adaptations are becoming all the more common these days, but thus far I believe Sex and the City has been the only truly successful one. Serenity, while popular among fans, was a failure financially—and let’s not even get into what happened with the latest X-Files film. Unlike Rome, however, Sex and the City was a pop-culture phenomenon that had legions of fans waiting to make the film a success. Rome was popular among critics, but I don’t believe a “Rome” branded film would really draw the same sort of crowds based on name alone.

I want to believe in this film, but given that it would need a budget massively beyond that of Sex and the City, I think Heller is ultimately setting himself up for failure. Still, I’d kill to see Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo getting into all sorts of mischief again. Hopefully, I’m not the only one.

Discuss: Do you think Rome could make the transition to the big screen? How do you feel about tv-to-film adaptations in general?

Source: THR via Cinematical

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Comments 

Related Posts

Tags

Drama, TV To Film Adaptation, , ,

  • Wande
    Rome was amazing. Anyone with even the faintest interest in Roman History will certainly enjoy. I thought the characters were brilliant and they should definitely be used again if a film is to be made
  • allison
    I would LOVE to see Rome become a movie ... I loved the series ... I'd definitely go to see the movie. I know a lot of other people who would too. I wonder why they cancelled the show? I wonder if it had bad? ratings ... I don't know why a lot of people I know watched it ... I bet a movie would have an even greater fan base w/ Kevin McKidd having more women fans from Grey's Anatomy now. ...
  • Claudia Montgomery
    I rented the all 22 episodes and watched in 5 days. My husband caught the last 2 episodes, was mezmerized, so we rented them again and both enjoyed every minute of them. If ROME becomes a movie, I hope HBO's original cast has the opportunity to replay their parts. ROME doesn't need big name stars who would draw attention away from the story, and we already know the cast brought their characters to life.

    And, whoever did the set design, bring them back, also!
  • I think the majority of movie-going punters (i.e. the people who don't follow film trends on blogs and make up 75%+ of ticket sales) would see the ROME poster and think, "Meh. I saw/own Gladiator." Correct assumption or not, they would assume it.
  • I agree. I loved the fact of how historical this was, and a film based on the original series would definitely be even better, even if it's just for closure much like Serenity was.
  • While it would be great to see a Rome film, I am still bothered that the best show HBO ever had, "Deadwood", hasn't been finished as a single or two-part film. Shame.
  • Rome, wouldn't work on network tv, you'd have to edit too much, it's like The Sopranos on A&E, do you know anyone who watches that?
  • I wish they did have Dexter, and the show would end before it becomes just another tv show, which it almost is now
  • They've got all the equipment, costumes, and probably have perfected everything else. Good idea. Scrap the exising cast and get some real playas in there!

    LOL
  • Ben
    Rome was a show that was dying to be brought to the big screen. You could see it when they filmed these huge historic battles in shaky close-up with about five men shouting loudly and shaking plastic swords. But whether anyone would be willing to pay for it to be made is another thing entirely.

    Also, weren't the two series set a long time before the birth of Christ? That would rule out having Verenus and Pullo. Unless they discovered a time travelling car/phone box.
  • What LeBigMac said.
  • "X-Files"
    "I want to believe"

    I see what you did there.
  • I will be so disappointed it if HBO ends up doing this instead working to conclude Deadwood or Carnivale. I was so pissed when Deadwood got canceled and even more so when Carnivale got canned with such a huge cliffhanger right at the end.
  • Emm
    :) nice! I'm excited, I'd see this if they made this into a film. Was a shame that the series ended only after two seasons, I hope it does bring some justice to what it deserved. yeah, it'll be one hell of a budget though...
  • Rome was a great series but in general tv-to-film adaptations seem to fail or if they work at all, they basically are just a 2 hour long episode. I'd definitely see it if it came out but don't expect this to ever grace the silver screen.
  • Rachel
    As a Classicist, my peers and I widely agree that ROME is the best interpretation of the classical world on the small or large screen. If the same research, time and effort is put into a ROME film, it would be widely accepted and appreciated by Latinist nerds worldwide, and for once the general public would be exposed to the Classical world in a mostly error-free way. Films like Gladiator and Troy, though entertaining, were simply tragic when it comes to the lack of historical details. ROME has done a great job in the past and I hope the producers can continue in the same fashion.
  • Tyler J
    Thank God they don't have Dexter.

    I'm a bit worried about Little Britain USA, though :(
  • The Mentalist is a rip-off of Psych.
  • While i loved Rome, the show doesn't have the fanbase to justify a big budget movie. Has Rome ever been played on regular TV? If not, that would be a good step in the right direction for building a fanbase. I remember for a while all FX showed was Sex and the City reruns.
  • It is one of those things you should definitely get around to ;)
  • I never actually got round to watching the seris, witch doesnt say much for me getting round to watch the movie...
  • Antibodies
    The more I think about it, HBO are pretty much dicks when it comes to finishing a series.
  • This would be great to see. The series was great.
  • I watched Rome every Sunday and would love to see it come to the big screen.
  • Honestly, they can't bring in big names for a film adaptation without ruining their already strong fanbase. I never had the opportunity to watch the show but I wanted to. Reminds me of Firefly. If Whedon had brought in a big name for Serenity who was not in the original show, I feel the reception would not have been as good with the fans of Firefly. Instead, he only brought in one new addition - Chiwetel Ejiofor. Definitely not a household name (mainly because you can't pronounce it) but an amazing actor nonetheless who proved to be a genius casting move by Whedon and his crew.
  • Ben
    Anyone who tries to stop this film I hope they meet the same fate as Julius Caesar. May Fortune spreads her legs for Bruno.
blog comments powered by Disqus

gorilla nation

/Film

Copyright © 2010 /Film. Web design by Pro Blog Design. Logo Concept by: Illumination Ink

All names, trademarks and images are copyright their respective owners.